The Sky is NOT Falling

BACKGROUND -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said yesterday
that it has determined that all calls to the Internet are interstate and
not local calls.

Some reports have expressed concern that the elimination of so-called
"reciprocal compensation" payments will cause an increase in
subscriber rates for Internet access. The following response should be
attributed to Tom Tauke, vice president of government relations at Bell
Atlantic.

At Bell Atlantic, we agree with the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) who said yesterday's action does nothing that would open the door
to imposing per-minute usage charges on consumers who call the Internet.

The FCC's action has no effect on the rates Bell Atlantic charges ISPs or
retail customers. Therefore it should have no effect on the rates charged to
users of Internet service.